Lent 5 John 12:1-8 3/28/04

"The Passion of..."

I know that a number of you have seen "The Passion of Christ". While this movie makes an interesting topic of discussion or sermonizing, I want to address a different kind of passion today. In "The Passion of Christ", the word "passion" refers to suffering. Passion, as I’m using it today though refers to ardor, commitment, love, great enthusiasm, and zeal.

This is the passion of a person who feels deeply. It is the passion of one who gives without counting the cost. It is a passion that doesn’t hold back or worry about appearances. It is the passion of Mary of Bethany.

We could say that Mary had cause for her passion. Jesus had just recently raised her brother, Lazarus, from the dead. This would surely have been enough to cause her to express love for Jesus in a passionate way. After all, not only were women without male support and protection very vulnerable, Mary and Martha seem to have loved their brother deeply. But, I think there is more. This was the Mary who risked censure for sitting with men and learning "manly" (religious) things from Jesus rather than being about "women’s" work inside the house. This was the Mary who wanted more , experienced more and felt more than most women of her day. There had to be more to the passion of Mary.

Mary of Bethany was a disciple as much as Peter, James, John and the others. She was certainly a far better disciple than some, especially Judas. Mary illustrates her faith with actions - Judas just talks piously. Mary gives with a generous heart - Judas just takes (even possibly stealing from the common purse). Both prepare Jesus for burial, but she by anointing and he by betrayal. Both Mary and the disciples listen to Jesus words, but only Mary has the maturity and wisdom to respond appropriately. She seems to know or understand more than even the disciples closest to Jesus.

Anointing someone’s feet was not a common act of hospitality. Anointing the feet was part of the burial ritual. Great care was normally taken in preparing a body for burial. The body was washed and anointed with scented oil, then wrapped in linen and spices. It was the last act of love done by the women of the family.

There would be no time to perform this ritual when Jesus dies. Thus, what Mary does is a prophetic act.

Mary’s passion leads her to great extravagance as well. Nard, aka spikenard, was a perfumed oil imported from the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. It was usually used only a drop at a time because of its great cost. The denarii was a silver coin and three hundred was the equivalent of a year’s wages. But, then nothing is too good for one who is so loved...for one who is the object of such passion.

It’s interesting really. This story is almost a parable about the passion of God. Though we in no way deserve it, God loves us with a passion even greater than Mary’s.

When I read of Mary splashing this precious liquid on Jesus’ feet, lavishing it on with such freedom that it drips down on the floor, I’m reminded of still shots from "The Passion of Christ". While I have a problem with the extreme violence in the movie, the bloodiness of Jesus makes an important point. God’s love for us is so passionate that He thinks nothing of the cost of dying for us. In His suffering, He spills His precious blood as freely as Mary spilled nard.

Washing Jesus feet was both an act of extreme intimacy and an act of abasement, such as something a slave might do...or a lover. Unbinding her hair and using it instead of a towel was also an extraordinary act.

But, what God in Jesus does for us is even more so. God comes down from His heavenly throne, becomes a lowly human being, lives as one of His own dirty, powerless creatures and dies in the most humiliating, painful death conceived by man. He makes Himself even less than a slave out of love for us.

And out of that same love He seeks to be more intimate with us than even Mary could be. As we read later in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ desire is to abide in us. The passion of Christ is to be a part of our very beings always - to nurture us, to live in and through us. This is not something that will only happen after we die and join Him in heaven, but begins with our baptisms. That abiding is then deepened and strengthened every time we receive Christ in Holy Communion or allow His word to touch our hearts.

This then is the passion...the passion of Christ: to love us now and always. Amen.